Anglo-Australian multinational mining company BHP Group has received requests from Chinese coal buyers for deferrals, according to the firm’s Chairman Ken MacKenzie on Wednesday. The requests came after China halted receipts of Australian coal amid rising trade tensions between the two nations. MacKenzie, however, did not refer whether the deferment requests are for BHP’s thermal or met coal.
Last week, some traders said that Beijing had told ports to reject the entry of either type of Australian coal. The rejected shipments were then redirected to other markets at the last minute, they added. China’s coal imports are expected to be slow in the remainder of the year after heavy imports earlier in the year and weak demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, China has moved to support domestic miners as part of its post-pandemic recovery efforts.
China is Australia’s top trade partner, but the ties began to deteriorate in 2018 when Canberra decided to ban Huawei from its 5G network. Australia also called for an inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19, which further worsened the relationships. China accounted for 27% of Australia’s metallurgical coal and 20% of its thermal coal shipments in the first half of 2020.
